Officials of the AME denomination intended, as of February, 2008, to enter into discussions regarding Bryant's leadership, following mutual filings for divorce by Bryant, and spouse and fellow Hampton alumna Gizelle Bryant. [4][citation needed]

In February 2008, both of the Bryants, Jamal and Gizelle, a fellow Hampton University graduate, are described in a reliable published account as having mutually filed for divorce, "[h]e... seeking a 'limited divorce,' while his wife has requested an 'absolute divorce,' according to papers filed in Baltimore Circuit Court."[4] They have 3 daughters.

^ abReddy, Sumathi (2008). "Questions, concerns over pastor's divorce"(online). The Baltimore Sun (February 16). Retrieved 21 February 2016. Controversy surrounding the divorce case of the Rev. Jamal-Harrison Bryant—the flashy, influential pastor of the Empowerment Temple—will likely be addressed at the annual conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Church next month. / Bishop Adam J. Richardson Jr., who presides over the Second Episcopal District, which includes Maryland, said that although he was not aware of any formal complaints about Bryant's pending divorce and his wife's allegation of adultery, Richardson planned to broach the topic at the conference in Baltimore. / 'There will be some questions that I ask,' Richardson said in a recent interview. 'Simply the same questions that we have with every pastor that deal with the character of pastors and whether or not anything official has come to the secretary of the conference about the moral or religious character of a pastor.' / ... Bryant and his wife, a former model, are known for their flashy lifestyle, which includes a Bentley and a multimillion-dollar Canton waterfront property. Their lifestyle has attracted criticism from those who say the church is more about his business enterprises and building wealth than religion. Her original divorce complaint stated that he earned more than $350,000 a year.